Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MUSEUM
ETHNOGRAPHY MUSEUM
adult/concession 1000/500Ft, combined ticket for all exhibitions 1400/700Ft;
10am-6pm Tue-Sun;
M2 Kossuth Lajos tér)
Visitors are offered an easy introduction to traditional Hungarian life at this sprawling mu-
seum opposite Parliament with thousands of displays in a dozen rooms on the 1st floor. The
mock-ups of peasant houses from the Őrség and Sárköz regions of Western and Southern
Transdanubia are well done, and there are some priceless objects, which are examined
through institutions, beliefs and stages of life.
On the ground floor, most of the excellent temporary exhibitions deal with other peoples
of Europe and further afield: Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. The building itself
was designed in 1893 by Alajos Hauszmann to house the Supreme Court; note the ceiling
fresco in the lobby of Justice by Károly Lotz.
PLAZA
SZÉCHENYI ISTVÁN TÉR
Named Roosevelt tér in 1947 after the long-serving (1933-45) American president, this
square has now been renamed to honour the statesmen and developer of Chain Bridge,
which it faces. The square offers among the best views of Castle Hill in Pest.
On the southern end of Széchenyi István tér is a
statue of Ferenc Deák
, the Hungarian
minister largely responsible for the Compromise of 1867, which brought about the Dual
Monarchy of Austria and Hungary.
The statue on the western side is of an Austrian and a Hungarian child holding hands in
peaceful bliss. The Magyar kid's hair is tousled and he is naked; the
osztrák
is demurely
covered by a bit of the patrician's robe and his hair is neatly coiffed.
The Art Nouveau building with the gold tiles to the east is
Gresham Palace
, built by an
English insurance company in 1907. It now houses the sumptuous Four Seasons Gresham
Palace Hotel. The
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
(Magyar Tudományos Akadémia),
founded by Count István Széchenyi, is at the northern end of the square.
NOTABLE BUILDING
BEDŐ HOUSE
adult/student & child 1500/1000Ft; 10am-5pm Tue-Sat; M2 Kossuth Lajos tér)
Just around the corner from Kossuth Lajos tér is this stunning Art Nouveau apartment block
(1903) designed by Emil Vidor. Now a shrine to Hungarian Secessionist interiors, its three
